


The Talk

by Crazy_luna



Series: Owari Magica [36]
Category: Owari Magica
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:54:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26806918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazy_luna/pseuds/Crazy_luna
Summary: Salem and Percy have a very serious talk... A long one coming, at that.
Relationships: Salem Morson & Percival “Percy” Richard
Series: Owari Magica [36]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815574





	The Talk

**Author's Note:**

> 1225 points to slytherin! along with 2 exp and a potion from the shop!

Percy hadn't been as familiar with the sanctuary as he meant to be. Somewhere between his own caginess and the discord between the magi that girl had planted... he'd gotten lost. On the other hand though, here he was. He was wearing a black turtleneck and a purple and green flannel tied around his waist, something a bit more... mature than his usual treasure trove of hoodies. And a bit warmer too, against the spring breeze. He stepped into the sanctuary, looking around slowly. "Uh... Vondila? It's me."

Salem had been spending all her time getting things ready for making more healing items. With Belladona's threat she was going todo everything she could to keep her friends and team (She was never really sure she was on the team like her twin more just background support) healthy. She went behind the counter of the 'store' to get more supplies. She ducked down and started rooting around for the bandages she kept there. Hearing her twin's name spooked her causing her to jump and hit her head. "Shit." She rubbed her head and peaked out to see Percy. "Hey Percy! Von's out hunting." She smiled, happy to see the boy. She was worried about him after she heard about what happened at the last battle.

Percy blinked. After everything that'd happened, and the notes, and his bad reaction to everything, he hadn't seen her at all. "Oh, hey. You look..." He stepped a bit further in to close the door, then slowly looked over the shop, coming to the other side of the counter. "Busy. What's going on?"

Salem pulled her hand away from her head. "I'm doing all the prep work to make all the stuff I have for healing. Once all the prep work is done Von can just enchant what needs enchanting." She explained looking at the mess that she had turned the sanctuary into. It was three items but she was doing a triple batch of what she normally did. "But what can I do you for? I may not be a magi but maybe I can help you till Von gets back."

"Well..." He sighed and leaned on the counter, resting on his crossed arms. "I was coming for a conversation. Not that we don't need to have one too, so this works out just as well. How can I help you? If..." He swallowed. "If you want me to help, of course. Yeah. With making the things. The stuff. For healing."

Salem nodded. "We can talk and some help would be great." She stepped out from behind the counter. "So right now I need help organizing the bandages." She walked over to the table and picked up a roll of bandages. "These need to opened and put into this." She pointed at the bucket. "And these-" she picked up a box of adhesive bandages. "Need to be opened and put in this." She pointed at a different bucket. "Can you do that for me?"

Percy nodded, heading to the table. Organizing bandages... Easier than anything else about this magi gig, especially the heavy moral weight on all of their backs. He sat down on the table and started divvying them up accordingly. "I think I can." He flashed her a smile, maybe a bit more devilish that intended. "So, how are you holding up with all this?"

Salem nodded and went back behind the counter to grab the remaining bandage. She popped up to answer holding on to a large costco size box of bandages. "Well Belladona is a shock to say the least but I'm a little glad it just one magi and not a group." She said as she set down the box in front of Percy. She made a mental note that she would be out of normal bandages after this and would need to stock up again. "That doesn't make her any less of a risk it's just." She clicked her tongue trying to think of the words. "Less physical fighting between magi." She turned around again and moved back to the 'shop' and collected a mortar and pestle along with a black case. She really hated doing this but it was helpful. She set her supplies down on the counter and turned to grab more things.

Percy paused as he sized up the roll of bandages, along with what she'd said. Physical fighting... "Belladonna showed up and made everyone either hate each other, or too scared to do anything. Just to get back at you and Vondila, just cuz she could. And the stuff she knows... It's not just the past stuff on you two, she knows all of us, right? She knew my name somehow, and I'm... nobody."

Salem scrunched her nose at the last comment from Percy. "From what we know she want's to emotionally hurt us and push us apart." She sighed as she grabbed a bottle of glittering water and a bottle of some random lotion. "Why no idea. Yet." She set them down and looked at Percy. "And you're not nobody Percy. Your strong and willing to fight for and with those around you. That important." She shook her head. "And Belladona knowing things about everyone she just needed to ask the incubators about it. Ask the right questions and they will tell you anything." She pinched her nose. "Moral lacking bastards." She muttered to herself.

He thought about Eb, and all the times he spent with the incubator resting on his shoulder comfortably. Yeah... it made sense that he couldn't trust him. Especially... considering... his face fell. He had kept thinking about the battle, and witches, but he still kept coming to the same conclusions. "Strong and willing to fight... sorry, but what a crock. You know what's at the end of this rainbow, right? We can help people and work together and be good for now, but there's still only one outcome."

Salem looked at Percy. She studied his face for a moment thinking of the right words. Had he put two and two together? "And what is that outcome?" Might as well find out were this is going before spilling the beans. She opened the black box and looked at the grief seeds that lay inside. Maybe hold off this part till she knows were this was going, she'll work on the rest of the mixture first.

Percy pulled off his ring and looked at it. Cloudier... but not dark. Still resolute and clear at it's core. "You know. The garish kind. Something macabre. I think mine'll be full of gnashing teeth and stuff." He looked up at her. "If I don't get killed by somebody else's witch first."

That is what she was waiting for. He had figured it out. Von had been worried that might be the case. "So you figured out magi become witches." Might as well put it out there. "Can I ask what tipped you off?" Okay Salem was definitely not making grief seed lotion now.

Percy put the ring back on as he went back to sorting the bandages, not very keen on keeping any amount of eye contact. "A lot of stuff just clicked. The notes. The christmas party. What... what everyone wasn't telling me. And then Ana. 'It's a monster'." He shook his head, then had to bite his tongue to keep the words from gracing his tongue. If he said anything about Ana, then they'd become real.

Salem sighed, this was rough. She was glad Von wasn't here. This was the one the few things that she dreaded now. "Percy I'm sorry we didn't tell you." She shook her head and poured some of the water into a mixing bowl. "It was a rule before Von and I came around to never to tell anyone and I kept that stupid rule up. Maybe out of hope." She watched the glittering water. "But that doesn't matter right now. I know it's scary." She paused.

"I'm..." He looked up at her. "I'm not scared for me." What else could he say? He wasn't worried about himself. No, he was worried about Vondila, about Vanessa, about everyone, about Luis. About Ana. "Salem, if I become one of those things tonight, then that's it, nothing I could have done anyways. All in everyone else's hands. But... Von, and Nessa, and Ana. They have stuff on their plates. The only thing on my plate is...." He didn't want to say 'other people's things'. What did he have on his mind, except the girls and Luis? Nothing else, really.

"You have parents right?" Salem asked looking over at Percy. "What about your dreams before becoming a magi?" Hope. Thats all she had really and like hell she wouldn't try and give it to others. "I can't promise those dream will ever come true but you need fight for them. I don't know whats going in your head. I don't even know if you can out live the curse." She turned back to her work and started pouring in the lotion. "But don't go down without a fight. The incubators might say they do this to keep the universe alive but I call bullshit. Teens becoming hollow shells of pure energy can't be the only way." She glared at the lotion falling into the bowl. "Even if you end up fighting for others thats not so bad. Von got this far fighting for me and now she's fighting for all of you."

"Maybe so. How do you do it, just being on the side? Just watching? I'm sure it's easier not to worry about this thing," he looked down at his ring. "But... you worry about us. Just as much as she does."

Salem shrugged. "To be honest I have no idea. After Von made her wish long before we knew anything she made me swear never to make a contract. So once we found this place I put my heart and soul into it. Not only to help Vondila but all magi. This place was a shit hole before me. A bunch of teens with no money or energy to really put into this place." She sat down the now empty bottle of lotion. "I may out live Von but like hell I will always help magi." Picked up the now empty bottles and put them in the recycling.

Percy put the last roll of bandages into its spot, then started working on the second set. "Hearing you say it like that... why does Belladonna want to cause you problems? I want to say I understand where she's coming from, but my brain has been a mess. I just keep thinking about her, and Ana, and Luis, and then I can't think anymore because I get too confused."

Salem grimaced at the thoughts of why Belladona was doing this. "Years ago she had this-" She chewed her lip trying to think of the right words. "-thing for me and didn't take no well at all. Next thing you know her and Von are in a physical fight and Belladona left that scar on Von right side of her jaw." She opened the black box and looked down at all the discarded grief seeds. If given time they could return to witches but she wouldn't let that happen. "Thats the only thing I can think of. That or she blames us for her leg." Picking a seed up she snapped off the needle and dropped it into the mortar along with the ball the made up the seed. Taking the pestle she slammed down into the seed giving off a loud crack causing the gem the brake a part.

It was morbid, but somehow watching the actions was therapeutic. A whole person's life and all their mistakes, in a little charm, getting mashed up to heal him or one of his friends. "Right. And... what can we even do? She doesn't seem like she's willing to give up on everything she believes in."

Continuing to grind down the seed she responded. "Well there is the worst option of offing her. Beyond that I really don't know. Right now everything is mind games and like you know that dangerous but unless everyone teams up against her I really don't know." Once the gem was in a dust she started on the next one. Holding up the gem she looked at it. "The worst part is not know which of these were magi or not."

"Even if they were magi, we can't help them now, right?" He shrugged. "The best thing we can do is move on, right?"

Salem snapped the needle off and dropped the two pieces into the mortar. "It is when we don't know them." She worked the seed into dust and then dumped it into the lotion water mixture.

He studied her for a moment. "Salem, what's the end goal? This can't just... go on forever, can it? The incubators using humans to make magi, the magi becoming witches, other magi killing the witches, there has to be something... right? Or..." something twisted in his gut. "Does any of this even matter?"

Salem started to mix everything together. "Thats the question Von is figuring out. Part of me hopes magi can out live the point of becoming witches. Or someone could wish to fix all this, if that could even work." Lifting her spoon she looked over the mixture. It glittered like it was meant to.

"We'd have to find someone who could, who already knew everything. Someone.... someone strong enough to." He couldn't help but look at her.

Salem sighs. "I'm too old." She squeezed her eyes shut and brought her mouth into a thin line. "I'm only 21 but after the age of 18 you’re no longer viable." She picked up the mixing bowl and walked over to Percy. "Can you hold out your hand for me?"

He offered it to her, sighing. "If you'd had the chance, do you think you would have? Or would you rather... stay out of it?"

Salem put a small amount of the lotion Percy's hand and rubbed it in. "Does that tingle a little?" She sat down the bowl and thought it over. "If it would work then yes. I would do anything to keep you guys safe."

He admired her hands as they were on his. Callused but gentle, a working woman's deft fingers. The distrust that had burned inside his chest aches dully, and all he can think about is the fact that he does, after everything else, trust her. "Yeah, it does. And... thank you. We'll try and keep you safe too."

Salem smiled. "Your welcome and thank you." She took the bowl. "I know this is hard but please don't bottle it up. That's what causes grief."

"I know, I usually talk to... to Luis. We got close. It is hard to talk, though, I'm used to being more on my own." Percy shrugged. "What can you do?"

Salem put the bowl back on the counter. It just needed a shot of magic and she could divide it up. "Continue to fight and get better." She turned back and looked at Percy. "The amount of magis that I have seen despair due to not letting others in is astronomical. If Von didn't have me she would have despaired herself."

Part of him could see that. The breakdown at the christmas party... who could blame her? She was between a rock and a hard place here. He nodded and finished sorting the bandages. "Then I'll try to be better. Don't... don't hesitate to kick me if I mess up, though. We're strong. We can handle it." He wasn't sure how strong his smile was, though, as he showed it to her.

Salem let out a chuckle. "Trust me I will if need be." She stated organizing a bit to keep things from getting to out of hand. Picking up the buckets of bandages she sat them off to the side then grabbed more glittery water and poured it in to the containers. "Ready for Von." She hummed. All that was left was the potion but that didn't need Von.

Percy nodded. "Is... is there anything else I can help with?"

Salem picked up the now empty bottles she had. "Could you go fill these with water from the hot spring?" She sat them down in front of Percy and gestured to the hallway leading to the back. "I need more for later."

He nodded and took them as he slid off the table. "Salem... Vondila is going to be okay, right? With... all this?"

Salem really wanted to tell him that everything would be fine but she was tired of lying. "She's a fighter, has been since birth. She’s just starting to learn to trust others is all." She breathed in. "I do know she will try anything to save you guys."

"And... we'll try and save her. Even if it's just from herself." With that, he headed to the back to grab water. 


End file.
